Fort Sumter, South Carolina, December 29, 1860.
My dear Sir: No one will regret more deeply than I
shall, should it prove true that the movement I have made has complicated
rather than disembarrassed affairs. There is an unaccountable mystery in
reference to this affair. I was asked by a gentleman within a day or two, if I
had been notified by your Government that I would not be molested at Fort
Moultrie, and when I replied that I had not been so notified, he remarked that
he was glad to hear it, as it convinced him that I had acted in good faith,
having just told him that I had not received such an intimation from my own
Government. Now if there was such an understanding, I certainly ought to
have been informed of it.
But why, if your Government thought that I knew of this
agreement, was everything done which indicated an intention to attack? Why were
armed steamers kept constantly on the watch for my movements? The papers say
that I was under a panic. That is a mistake; the moment I inspected my position
I saw that the work was not defensible with my small command, and recommended,
weeks ago, that we ought to be withdrawn. I remained, then, as long as I could
under the fearful responsibility I felt for the safety of my command, and
finally decided on Christmas morning that I would remove the command that day;
and it would have been attempted that day if the weather had not proved
inauspicious. Not a person of my command knew of my determination until that
morning, and only on that day. The captains of the lighters are, I am sorry to
see, threatened by the Charlestonians for what they did. I do hope that they
will not disgrace themselves by wreaking their wrath upon these men. They were
employed to take the women and children, and food for them, to Fort Johnson,
and were as innocent in the matter as any one. Another lighter was filled with
commissary stores for the workingmen here, and her captain certainly is not
blamable for bringing them. Not a soldier came in either of these vessels
except the married men with their wives for Fort Johnson, and there was not an
arm of any kind permitted to be taken on board those boats. Only one person on
board those boats knew that Fort Johnson was not their final destination, until
the signal was given that the command was in Fort Sumter. My men were
transferred in our own boats, and were all, with the exception of those attached
to the hospital, in the fort before 8 o'clock. So much in exoneration of the
captains[.]
I regret that the Governor has deemed proper to treat us as
enemies, by cutting off our communication with the city, permitting me only to
send for the mails. Now this is annoying, and I regret it. We can do without
going to the city, as I have supplies of provisions, of all kinds, to last my
command about five months, but it would add to our comfort to be enabled to
make purchases of fresh meats and so on, and to shop in the city. The Governor
does not know how entirely the commerce and intercourse of Charleston by sea
are in my power. I could, if so disposed, annoy and embarrass the
Charlestonians much more than they can me. With my guns I can close the harbor
completely to the access of all large vessels, and I might even cut off the
lights, so as to seal the approach entirely by night. I do hope that nothing
will occur to add to the excitement and bad feeling which exists in the city.
No one has a right to be angry with me for my action. No one can tell what they
would have done unless they were placed in the same tight place. . . . I write this note hurriedly, as I wish
to acknowledge the receipt of your kind note, and to assure you that I am
firmly convinced that, had you been in my place, and known no more of the
political bearing of things than I did, you would have acted as I did.
* * * * * * *
I know that if my action was properly explained to the
people of Charleston, they would not feel any excitement against me or my
command.
Praying that the time
may soon come, etc.,
Robert Anderson.
SOURCE: Samuel Wylie Crawford, The Genesis of the
Civil War: The Story of Sumter, 1860-1861, p. 128-30
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